Dingboche (4360m) to Lobuche (4930m) Bad start, Mary is feeling really dreadful today, decision made to stay a bit longer and see how she feels after breakfast. This girl is such a trooper, she never gives up. After some Panadol (wonder drug) and Psuedafed and a LLD (little lie down) she appears saying she's feeling a lot better. The breakfast porridge arrives- it has a distinctly weird smell to it, I gag down about 1/3 of it before throwing in the towel- better than throwing it up! Mary has already finished hers- she must be feeling better! Apparently as a gesture of kindness and to give us extra strength for our big day the cook decided we needed a "treat"- porridge with yak (nak, actually) butter! Nak butter is an acquired taste- I dont think I ... read more

Pangboche (3860m) to Dingboche (4360m) Make it through the night managing to put off going to the yak toilet until 0600. It's actually a very nice toilet and quite peaceful out there in the early morning light. Enough toilet talk... Slow start, we dont leave until 0830, projected time is a 3 hr easy walk to Dingboche. It is in fact pretty easy, we cross the Khumbu Khola, lots of gentle up and down, we follow the Imja Khola pretty much the whole way with the sun on our backs. The way is punctuated by various coloured yaks and sizes- or are they dzopkayu? Take a morning tea break at 0945 - we sit in the sun, very peaceful. Soldier on over flat terrain, take another break, walk a bit further and see Dingboche off in ... read more

Namche Bazaar Acclimatisation Day Headache gone, sleep well. Work out that residual water in my thermos (still hot) can be put into small jug in bathroom lined with plastic shower cap = wash! = ingenious. Go to breakfast refreshed and smelling sweet. Late breaky at 0745 because its our "rest" day- porridge rates 8/10 on the Nepali porridge index (NPI). Guide and porter are majorly calorie loading- cornmeal, eggs, toast ++ and coffee- hmmm. We sip on our black tea and finish our small serve of porridge. 0840 we make our way up the hill, wow- the elevation kicks in- its a bit harder going this morning. We reach the Tashi Delek Monastery, pass the mani walls and prayer wheels in gold and others in red. Stunning views. Lots of blue pine and juniper (even typing ... read more

Kathmandu - Lukla (2800m) - Phakding (2650m) Alarm set for 0500. Wake at 0200, 0400, 0430... Tings has left us some yoghurt, bread and bananas- dutifully consume with a cup of tea. Dhana collects us in a taxi, strap bags on roof rack and we take a speedy 20 min drive in the (sort of) dark to the airport- the taxi has these weird lights in the back window that are attached to the brakes, every time he brakes (often) the blue disco lights flash maniacally. The only other light is that of fires by the sides of the roads- preferable at 0530 to blue disco lights. Go through the 2 obligatory pat downs at the airport and score the first flight out to Lukla, it's 0814 and i am strapped into the first row seat ... read more

Goodbyes- check Mary- check Check in- check Luggage- check. We actually get to check in our bags (pretty light this year at 12kg for the entire trip- in an effort to be more minimalistic than last year) as well as 2 overly large extra ones bound for a hospital/ orphanage/ midwifery centre supported by The Healing Tree in Perth (an initiative set up by a Perth doctor). Thai Airways have been generous enough to accommodate the extra stuff because it's going to a charitable organisation. Day pack- check. Got my travel docs, my money- all 4 currencies, my camera, my ipod, my iphone, blah, blah, blah Voting- check. Polling booths have been set up for absentee voting in the Western Australian state election scheduled for March 9, 2013 (Liberal landslide as it turns out). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We... read more